Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/38

 PALM OIL PALMYRA to about 350. The glycerine and sulphuric acid by their mutual reaction are thus decom- posed and escape partially in carbonic and sul- Oil Palm. Part of Female Flower Spil^e, Fruit, and Nut with and without envelope. phurous acids, and the remainder by subsequent washing. The impure acids are next distilled in copper stills heated by steam injected at a temperature of 600. The dark residue in the retorts is made by pressure to yield further portions of oil at the close of the distillation, and the black solid mass which remains is used for fuel. The distilled fat, when cooled to 50 or 54, is broken into cakes 18 in. square and about If thick, which are distributed upon squares of coir or cocoanut matting, and these being piled upon each other are submitted to the action of a hydraulic press at a temperature of 75. The fat thus obtained may be run at once into candles for the European markets ; but for tropical climates it is again submitted to pressure at a temperature of 120. The soaps made with palm oil retain the natural agreeable odor of the oil. In Africa palm oil is eaten to some extent by the natives as a sort of butter. In medicine it is recognized as an emollient, and employed sometimes in friction or embrocation, though possessing no specific virtue over other oleaginous substances. PALM SUNDAY. See HOLY WEEK. PALMYRA, an ancient city in an oasis in the Syrian desert, about 120 m. N". E. of Damas- cus. It is supposed to be the Tadmor founded or (according to Josephus) enlarged by Solo- mon, and its Hebrew name, like its Greek and Latin one, signifies "the city of palms." It was autonomous and early became an impor- tant emporium, but is seldom mentioned by the more ancient historians. Pliny refers to it as a city of merchants, carrying on the traffic between the Romans and Parthians. In the reign of Hadrian it formed an alliance with Rome. Its ruler Odenathus received the title of Augustus from the emperor Gallienus for his services against the Persians in A. D. 260. Ruins of Palmyra. He was assassinated in 266, and was succeeded by his widow Zenobia, under whom it reached its greatest prosperity. She extended her sway over considerable portions of Mesopotamia and Syria, and assumed the title of queen of the East. As she refused to acknowledge the su-